The question asks if we believe in the rationality, perfectibility, and mutability premises, and I actually am having a hard time saying I believe in all three. The premise I have the hardest time accepting is the idea that "humans are born in sin but are capable of achieving goodness through effort and control" (pg. 353). Growing up I have been taught that humans are born as pure and good, and the world later takes hold of them and shapes who they are. I can't agree with a premise that says a baby is born in sin, because I think human nature considers babies to be the most fragile and innocent beings in existence.
I have accepted the rationality premise, because I hold my own belief that humans can find the truth through evidence and logistical analysis. The problem sometimes is that evidence can be interpreted through human mediums which can then alter the meaning of the scientific. I think that humans can get closer to truth with logics, but science is never absolute, it only rules things out. The law is definitely an institution based on the rationality premise.
The Mutability premise stands as the strongest premise of the the three in my opinion. In human nature, we are shaped by our natural environment, and we are always trying to "improve humans....physical and psychological circumstances". I would assume the institution of medicine relies on this premise especially with the new pathological definitions for psychological problems.
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I find your connection of the Mutability premise and the institution of medicine to be a very good association. I fully agree since it seems medicine has become the tool to shape the physical and psychological circumstances of people. You can find a pill that claims to fix anything these days. However, the main belief of the mutability premise is in the environmental impact on human behavior. Even with medication, if the environment is not right the medicine may not be able to make the desired adjustments to the psychological problem. It is important to use many approaches to psychological problems, combining counseling or physical activity with medication, is usually doctor recommended.
ReplyDeleteI also had a little trouble with perfectibility and children, but I just took it to mean that children cannot raise themselves and need control and effort to be shaped into a good, hard-working human being. I’m wondering if living a healthy lifestyle follows perfectibility because the effort part of it can be exercise and control can be applied to making healthy eating choices.
ReplyDeleteLisaDesigning, I completely agree with the idea that a quick-fix pill for everything may not actually work because the right environment is not present. With weight loss, there are millions of different pills out there, but most don’t work unless it’s coupled with exercise